Stainless or Wood Bench

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Chugmaster

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Is it just me or is there a clear safety reason why it makes sense to go with a wood bench rather than a stainless bench for electric brewing.

I realize that everything is connected to a GFCI, but for added safety, doesn't it make sense to go with wood?
 
I don't think so. If it's wrong it's wrong. At some point you touch everything in your system. Electricity doesn't care if you are electrocuting yourself on your table or kettle.
 
I'd want a well-grounded metal bench instead of the wood. I'd feel safer having an explicit path to ground (that I wasn't a part of). Any spilled liquid or improperly grounded kettle could be a problem for a wood bench.
 
Either. Just follow all proper wiring practices and your fine. A good GFI source and ground everything. Don't be sloppy, it can kill you.

When I was outside it was a metal rig I welded up. But coming inside to brew electric I wanted some warmth and old school bar feel with the brewery. My vote is wood.

IMAGE_F7C42BB0-8C07-48D3-98BF-0AD3E6D0D5D9.JPG
 
Thanks, control panel goes in this week.

There was a really nice stainless brewstand on the "show your brew rig" thread. It used a nice SS prep table and stainless shelves. It rolled and had a nice control panel.
 
Stainless is nice if you have the money and the tools.
Wood is nice because it is cheap and easy.

In electric brewing, nothing gets hot enough to create a concern for burning a wooden stand. I would also say that there isn't any difference in terms of this "grounding" concern you have. As long as all of your metal components (that interact with electricity) are properly grounded, there is no chance of getting the "zap".
 
I'm a wood man myself. I added some aluminum diamond plate to make it last for years. Plus, I grounded the plate which in turn grounds all my kettles...

Hmm.. you did ground each of your e kettles with dedicated grounding wire correct? I would not rely on the the fact that the kettle is just resting on a steel plate as a solid ground.

you could do some tests via an ohm meter to check your resistance to ground thru the water, or pot, and then test directly within the panel and see what the difference is.

sidenote.. all that stainless is purty :)
 
When aluminum is oxidized (all the time, if not scratched) it has a really high impedance.

I went with (ply)wood. It's easy and cheap to make changes and that's a really big thing to me as my rig seems to be evolving all the time. With a proper varnish it's easy to keep clean too.

I didn't think about safety at all when making the decision. I think that it's enough to have all the metal parts grounded by the book and everything behind CFI.

An Ohm meter doesn't give you any readings, if you measure water. Only thing that can be tested whit it is the Ohm value of the ground connection. An insulation tester ("megger") is needed, if you want to evaluate safety of the build more preciously.
 
I like wood, purely because it's been easy to modify as my set up has evolved over time.
There's a health and safety aspect to that, having everything well situated, no hot and or electric components propped up on blocks or the like.

I agree with the sentiment that the choice shouldn't be a factor with grounding things, safe is not relying on what the stand is made of.
 
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